Anime Like DIVE!!

Young Chihaya Ayase once dreamed of making her older sister Chitose a top model, but her life changed when she defended Arata Wataya from Taichi Mashima, her childhood friend and a school bully. This incident introduced her to competitive karuta, a card game based on the Ogura Hundred Poets anthology that demands sharp memory, agility, and stamina. Enchanted by the sport, Chihaya forms the Shiranami Society with Arata and Taichi, pursuing the prestigious title of Queen of Karuta. After drifting apart from Taichi and losing touch with Arata during middle school, Chihaya reunites with them in high school to establish the Mizusawa Karuta Club. Teaming up with Taichi’s expertise and energetic new members, the club strives to claim victory at the national championship held at the Omi Shrine.

Despite being total opposites, Makoto "Smile" Tsukimoto and Yutaka "Peco" Hoshino have been close friends since childhood. While the overly confident Peco dreams of becoming the world's best ping-pong player, he often skips practice, frustrating his teammates on the Katase High School ping-pong team. In contrast, Smile—despite his natural talent—always holds back his full strength when competing against others. Their shared love for ping-pong has forged an unbreakable bond between them. When Peco hears that a former Chinese national team player has arrived in Japan, he drags Smile to rival Tsujido High School to check them out. This trip leads to a match between Peco and Kong Wenge, who crushes the former in a single game. Shaken by such a devastating defeat, Peco begins to question his own reasons for playing. Seeing Smile's potential, Katase's coach starts training him to overcome his hesitation, but Smile is reluctant to play if it isn't for fun. As the two struggle to find purpose in the sport, a host of stronger players—each grappling with their own inner conflicts—await them at the inter-high tournament, where only the best can endure. But when these young athletes let their unchecked ambition run wild, the challenges they face paint a grim picture as they chase after glory.

Former ace runner Kakeru Kurahara of Sendai Josei High School is chased out of a convenience store for shoplifting. While fleeing his pursuer, he runs into Haiji Kiyose, a fellow university student. Impressed by Kakeru's agility, Haiji convinces him to move into Chikusei-sou, the rundown apartment where Haiji lives with eight other students. After losing his entire apartment deposit at a mahjong parlor, Kakeru reluctantly agrees. At Kakeru's welcome party, however, Haiji reveals a secret: the apartment is actually the dormitory of the Kansei University Track Club. He announces his ultimate goal of competing in the Hakone Ekiden—one of Japan's most prestigious university marathon relay races. The problem is that aside from Haiji and Kakeru, none of the residents have any running experience. Worse, they show zero interest in being part of Haiji's ridiculous scheme. With only months left before the deadline, can the fourth-year student persuade them otherwise and achieve his elusive dream of running in the Hakone Ekiden?

Chihaya Ayase is determined to build up her high school's competitive karuta club, fueled by grand goals such as winning the national team championship at Omi Jingu and claiming the title of Queen, the top female karuta player in Japan—and by extension, the world. As their second year of high school begins, Chihaya and her clubmates must find new members, sharpen both their physical and mental abilities, and face tough rivals on their path to the championship. At the same time, Chihaya's childhood friend Arata Wataya, the prodigy who first sparked her passion for karuta, rekindles his own forgotten affection for the ancient card game.

Constantly falling short compared to the girls' club, the boys' soft tennis team is on the verge of being disbanded because of their weak skills and lackluster match results. Desperate for new members, Touma Shinjou tries to recruit capable players but fails to find anyone. Then Maki Katsuragi transfers in and displays sharp reflexes when he catches a stray cat in his classroom, catching Touma's eye. Intrigued, Touma eagerly asks Maki to join the boys' team but is quickly turned down, as Maki has no interest in clubs. Touma refuses to give up and eventually convinces Maki—on the condition that Touma pays him for participating and covers other club costs. Maki joins the team, and his impressive form and fast learning let him instantly outperform the rest. Though this sparks tension among the boys, Maki challenges and drives his teammates to not only keep up with his seemingly innate talent but also push them to commit to a sport they once ignored. As the members of the boys' soft tennis club discover their own abilities, they face personal struggles and experience the darker side of growing up in middle school.

Winning the high school team tournament marked a major milestone for the Mizusawa members. Each of them has grown significantly in their own way, and the victory reflects just how far they've come. Yet with one goal achieved, their personal ambitions are now within sight. Chihaya Ayase is determined to face Shinobu Wakamiya and claim the title of Queen, while Taichi Mashima, having reached Class A, can finally go head-to-head with Arata Wataya. Everyone at Mizusawa is driven to improve, and if they continue striving, there's no telling what the future may bring.

Kou Kitamura and Aoba Tsukishima are constantly bickering, even though their families are close friends and business partners. Kou is the only child of a sports shop owner, yet he has never been interested in playing baseball. However, he still possesses an impressive batting ability, which he has sharpened through frequent visits to the local batting center run by the Tsukishima family. In contrast, Aoba loves baseball and is a star player with exceptional pitching skill. Despite being seemingly complete opposites, the two share something deeply important—Wakaba Tsukishima, Aoba's older sister and Kou's destined sweetheart. Admired by both of them, Wakaba often becomes the trigger for their endless rivalry. But whether they will ever realize they have more in common than either would like to admit remains to be seen. The game of baseball may be exactly what they need to finally overcome their personal struggles.

Teenager Yamato Akitsuki leaves his home in the Hiroshima countryside and moves to Tokyo to start high school. In exchange for room and board, he agrees to help his aunt and cousin run their bathhouse, as well as the neighboring girls-only dormitory where he will be living. While heading to meet his relatives, he passes by a local high school track and becomes captivated by a girl practicing high jumps. Yamato later discovers that the high jumper is not only a resident of the dorm but also his next-door neighbor. Suzuka Asahina is a highly recruited track and field athlete who attends the same high school as him. Naturally a perfectionist, Suzuka is annoyed by Yamato's clumsy and carefree personality and finds it hard to be around him. Determined to win her affection, Yamato joins the track team after uncovering his hidden talent for sprinting. Through his experiences with the track team, his classmates, and the constantly drunk college students at the dorm, Yamato finds the determination to become a better athlete and a more fitting partner for Suzuka, even if it means driving himself to the brink of exhaustion.

Genius setter Kimichika Haijima is forced to leave Tokyo after an incident with his school's volleyball team, relocating to Fukui. There, he reunites with his childhood friend Yuni Kuroba, a member of the Monshiro Middle School Boys' Volleyball Team who does not realize his own potential. Haijima recognizes Kuroba's skill and resolves to build a new team around him as the ace. During the prefectural tournament, Kuroba buckles under pressure, causing Monshiro to collapse after their loss. The defeat also creates a rift between Haijima and Kuroba, leading Haijima to quit the team. Now enrolled at Seiin High School, Haijima and Kuroba end up on the same volleyball team again. Having learned from past errors, Haijima helps Kuroba overcome his performance anxiety so he can become the ace and lead the team to the prefectural championship. With support from team captain Shinichirou Oda and vice captain Misao Aoki, Seiin aims to win the prefecturals and earn the right to represent Fukui at the Spring Tournament. To achieve that, they must defeat Fukuho Technical High School, the current Fukui champions. Can Haijima's team beat the odds, or will they repeat his history of failure?

Joe Yabuki is a restless young man who tends to solve every problem with his fists. Though he lacks manners and self-control, his natural, self-taught fighting ability more than compensates. While wandering the Doya slums, Joe picks a fight with a local gang. Despite being heavily outnumbered, he easily defeats them, catching the eye of Danpei Tange—a former boxing coach who has since turned to alcohol. Danpei sees Joe's raw talent and wants to train him to become Japan's greatest boxer. Initially, Joe writes Danpei off as a hopeless drunk, but after the trainer saves his life, he agrees to live with him and learn boxing. However, Joe's stubborn personality makes him a difficult student, and he often slips back into his old habits. To make it in the brutal world of professional boxing, Joe must learn to trust his mentor and master the techniques he's taught. But the path to becoming a pro is full of challenges that will push him to his absolute limits.

In Tokyo, elite horse girls and rising prodigies dominate the national racing scene. Rookie trainer Jou Kitahara arrives with big dreams but modest hopes, never expecting to find hidden talent in the quiet town of Kasamatsu—until he encounters an ash-gray-haired girl with a wild, unrefined running style. Oguri Cap spent her childhood hindered by weak knees, enduring pain just to stand. Through sheer determination, she overcame her limitations and discovered freedom in the very activity that once seemed unattainable: running. While other horse girls in Kasamatsu strive for victory and recognition, Oguri runs without purpose, motivated solely by the joy of movement. Fujimasa March, a rising regional star, commands respect through her discipline, skill, and fierce determination. For her, running is a point of pride. However, when a school-organized race pits her against Oguri's raw, untamed stride, March's self-assurance begins to erode. In turn, something within Oguri changes after competing with March. For the first time, a flicker of ambition awakens in her—a longing to win that will carry her beyond her small hometown toward the grand stages that await.

Entering middle school, Haruka Nanase and Makoto Tachibana must navigate the shifts that accompany growing up. While Makoto adapts well to his new peers and maintains his enthusiasm for swimming, Haruka faces challenges in making friends or joining his school’s swim team, as past struggles with the sport haunt him. He withdraws from his energetic classmates and the swimming club, unsure of what else to pursue. Other students, including Makoto, also hesitate about which clubs to join. Following an argument, the boys ultimately decide to join the swimming club, where they work to sharpen their abilities, synchronize their strokes, and reconcile their complicated emotions toward the sport and one another. Amidst strong drive and natural ability, Haruka and Makoto, along with their peers, find themselves and enhance their talents during these formative starting days.

Tsukasa Akeuraji once harbored a dream of becoming a competitive solo figure skater, but beginning too late in life meant those ambitions never materialized. Now struggling financially, he takes on a job as an assistant coach, having accepted a future far removed from his earlier aspirations. On the eve of his first shift, Tsukasa meets Inori Yuitsuka, a shy fifth grader sneaking onto the ice to practice. Deeply fascinated by figure skating but constrained by her mother's overprotectiveness and her own self-doubt, Inori has never received encouragement to pursue her passion until she encounters Tsukasa. Beneath her timid demeanor lies significant potential, awaiting the right guidance to be unlocked. Touched by Inori's resolve to transform and recalling his own hardships, Tsukasa volunteers to coach her and help her pursue the dream she has been too frightened to voice. Although the path forward is long and strewn with unfamiliar obstacles and rival skaters, Inori commits herself to the craft and strives to reach the Olympics and become a medalist one day.

For as long as anyone can recall, Togashi has been the fastest kid in elementary school. His speed makes him unbeatable in every gym class and sports day, and nowhere does his talent shine more than in the hundred-meter dash. Bored by the lack of rivals, he decides to help train Komiya, a transfer student who loves running but whose poor technique keeps him stuck in last place. For a short while, the two are inseparable, bonded by their shared pursuit of speed. That is, until Komiya moves away as suddenly as he arrived. Years go by, and both boys keep honing their abilities. Though their paths and challenges differ, each strives to push himself to the limit and discover whether Togashi's long-held belief—that every problem can be solved by being the fastest runner in the hundred-meter dash—holds true.

East Tokyo United has faced years of hardship in Japan's premier soccer league, barely managing to stay out of relegation. Morale has hit rock bottom after a five-game losing streak, causing fans to drift away and rumors of the municipality withdrawing support for the home stadium to circulate. Plagued by a history of fired coaches and costly recruitment errors, the club is in a steep decline. Pressured by general manager Kousei Gotou, the board makes a risky decision to appoint Takeshi Tatsumi as the new head coach. Although Tatsumi is viewed as a traitor for abandoning ETU in his playing days, he has since found success managing a lower-division amateur team in England. Despite facing hostile fans and opponents with superior resources, Tatsumi believes he can lead the underdog squad to victory, proving that he is a master of giant killing.

Following a devastating tragedy, Yabuki Joe falls into a state of despair and hopelessness. Seeking to leave his past behind, he abandons the gym and begins to wander aimlessly. During his journey, he encounters figures such as Wolf Kanagushi and Goromaki Gondo, whose presence inadvertently rekindles the fading passion within him, prompting him to cease his travels. Upon returning home, Joe resumes his boxing career, yet he and his trainer are unaware that he is grappling with profound psychological obstacles that hinder his performance. To help Joe overcome these deep-seated struggles, Carlos Rivera, a celebrated boxer from Venezuela, is brought in to assist in his recovery.

After leaving her hometown of Kasamatsu to pursue greater ambitions in Tokyo, horse girl Oguri Cap quickly draws widespread attention thanks to her extraordinary performances. Her dream of becoming Japan's top horse girl appears attainable, but she faces a formidable rival—another racing prodigy, Tamamo Cross. Yet Tamamo is not her only challenge: elite racers from around the world are entering the Japan Cup, elevating the competition of the prestigious event to never-before-seen heights. Fueled by the encouragement of those who believe in her and her own fierce will to win, Oguri will stop at nothing to triumph in the Japan Cup and keep racing toward the pinnacle.

Twelve-year-old Takumi Harada is widely recognized as a baseball pitching prodigy. After relocating to the remote town of Nitta, he is forced to join his new school’s untrained baseball squad. Rather than being discouraged, Takumi finds the prospect amusing, believing it would be more entertaining to transform this obscure club into a dominant force through his own abilities. However, his immense talent requires a catcher capable of handling his pitches. His concerns are alleviated upon meeting Gou Nagakura, a fellow student and devoted fan who strives to demonstrate that he possesses the skill necessary to receive Takumi’s throws. As they struggle to establish a cohesive battery, Takumi clashes with his teammates due to his disrespectful attitude, while simultaneously seeking the genuine enjoyment of the game under the mentorship of his grandfather.

Tazusa Sakurano is a figure skater with a clear path to the Olympics, with her fate hanging in the balance at a single competition in Canada. During her routine, she falls and strikes her head on the ice, losing consciousness. Coincidentally, Canadian stunt pilot Pete Pumps crashes in a fiery explosion. Following her crushing defeat, Tazusa returns to Japan but begins hearing a mysterious voice in her mind. The truth is that upon reaching heaven, Pete was barred from entry due to his sins and instructed to wait for 100 days, resulting in his soul being trapped inside Tazusa’s body. Refusing to let this intrusion derail her life, even with an extra presence in her mind, Tazusa continues her skating career, hoping that her uninvited roommate might actually assist her in reaching her dreams.

The standing of women’s soccer in Japan has seen a gradual decline over the years. Even in this somewhat gloomy landscape, certain schools maintain their teams in an effort to sustain the game, bringing forth faint rays of optimism. Nozomi Onda, who boasts prodigious abilities after playing with the boys’ soccer club during middle school, believes that competing against girls would only hinder her performance. She only pushes herself to excel when facing opponents she considers worthy. On the other hand, Sumire Suou is a talented rookie whose potential is stifled by teammates unable to match her skill level. Persuaded by her former coach to join a girls’ squad, Onda crosses paths with Suou, who is joined by her close friend and rival Midori Soshizaki, as they both become members of the Warabi Seinan High School girls’ soccer team. In this fresh environment, the two girls unlock their full capabilities. Together with their teammates, every stride, kick, and goal brings them closer to victory, potentially helping to restore the sport to its former prominence.

Since novice coach Tsukasa Akeuraji took Inori Yuitsuka under his wing, her figure skating skills have progressed rapidly. After passing a qualifying badge test, she earns a place in the upcoming Chubu Block Tournament, where only five of fifteen competitors can move on to the next stage—the prestigious All-Japan Novice Tournament. Securing a spot will be challenging for Inori, as most of her opponents already have competition experience. The stakes rise as the tournament begins, with every skater striving to deliver their best routine before the large audience. Moreover, the current generation's skating prodigy, Hikaru Kamisaki, is not participating in this block, intensifying everyone's determination to qualify. This includes Inori, who must beat the odds to fulfill her promise of reaching Hikaru and representing Japan in the Olympics together with Tsukasa.

This narrative focuses on Uesugi Kazuya, his twin older brother Tatsuya, and Asakura Minami. Kazuya is beloved by his community for his talent, diligence, and role as the ace pitcher of his middle school baseball squad. In contrast, Tatsuya is a hopeless slacker who has long accepted a background role, allowing Kazuya to shine despite Tatsuya potentially possessing greater innate ability. Minami serves as their beautiful childhood friend and quasi-sibling, treating both boys with equal regard. While society, including Tatsuya, expects Kazuya and Minami to unite as the ideal couple, Tatsuya’s perspective shifts over time. He comes to understand that while he is prepared to sacrifice everything for his brother, he refuses to surrender Minami to Kazuya. The plot follows Tatsuya’s struggle to establish his own identity against his celebrated younger sibling, exploring how this tension impacts their dynamic with Minami and the brothers’ shared efforts to fulfill her lifelong aspirations.

Thanks to the legacy left behind by Tatsuya Uesugi, Meisei Academy High School was once famous for its powerful baseball team. However, twenty-six years after that golden era, the team has failed to maintain its reputation and has since fallen into obscurity. Two stepbrothers, Souichirou and Touma Tachibana, are determined to restore the former strength of Meisei Academy's baseball program and make it to the National High School Baseball Championship. Both boys are second-year students at Meisei Academy Middle School and are exceptionally talented players. Souichirou demonstrates outstanding abilities as both a catcher and a batter. Touma possesses extraordinary pitching skills but no longer takes the mound for a certain reason. Once they enter high school, the two form a battery and aim to compete in the National High School Baseball Championship.

Aikawa Kazuhiko previously served as captain of Tendoji High School's celebrated basketball squad. He relocates to a new area and enrolls at Mizuho High, where he joins the basketball team. But Mizuho's team is anything but celebrated—it has actually become inactive. Needless to say, Kazuhiko's determination, enthusiasm, and talent on the court motivate the other members of the dysfunctional team to regroup and resume practice. Their objective is to reach the national tournaments, where all young basketball players face their rivals in competition. The youth story of the five main characters—Fujiwara Takumi, Ishii Tsutomu, Dobashi Kenji, Miura Ranmaru, and Aikawa Kazuhiko—has only begun, alongside the revival of the Mizuho High School basketball team.